It varies upon indvidual capacity. Jus’ because a chaterholder finds GMAT difficult doesn’t mean that GMAT is tougher than CFA. The scope of GMAT testing is very obscure and the tests are designed to assess loose skills of a person. The CFA CBOK is more than sufficient to excel in the investment industry. You’re comparing High - school math and verbal with “CFA”.
dont put all your eggs in one basket.
diversify
700 GMAT, Passed Level 2. Took me about 2 weeks of study for level 1 and around the same for my GMAT. I feel GMAT is definitely harder if you want a great score 750 plus. If you want to get into Big 3 consulting they will look at your GMAT. No one cares about CFA outside of asset management and research.
Which Msc Finance depends on where you want to work. Some school like Tuck (Dartmouth) is well known in US or India, but it’s relatively unknown in Asia. IE isn’t the most well known in south east Asia, but extrememly well known in Europe. Talk to people around you in the industry and ask them, which schools do they think is a top tier in the country you want to work in. Also ask about work Visas, since I have heard especially in Europe, it’s getting hard to obtain work Visas since the new laws.
Thank all you guys for your advices 
Has anyone heard about Portland State University? They offer MS in Financial Analysis. Need to know about the worth of this degree.
So based on your logic, neither exam is harder unless you have declared yourself to be the de facto authority on examination rigor. You’ve basically asserted the CFA being more difficult as a fact.
Thanks, I’ve basically changed my approach and decided to just memorize the rules and answers to the OG problems. My verbal score is pretty awesome (80-90 percentile) while my quant sucks (60-70 percentile).
I just finished a Master of Finance at the University of Cambridge in the UK, and maybe if I share my story it would be helpful for the OP and others considering a specialized masters degree in finance.
I can tell you for a fact that specialized masters of finance programs (unless you are attending MIT, Princeton, and LBS as a crappy alternative), are not perfect substitutes for a top MBA at all. I studied as an international student in the UK, and I found that recruitment was largely targeted to MBA candidates and undergrads, with no clear recognition or respect being given to the specialized masters degrees. Of course you will find some people to be successful in securing roles as international students (I secured a role as an investment banking analyst at a regional investment bank in London), most people will come into the program with the highest expectations, only to end up returning to their home countries with not even a single job offer in hand.
While I do agree with most people that a masters degree in finance is a much better strategy of securing a finance role than just hammering away at the CFA program having secured little to no relevant experience at all, anyone should be very careful before making a huge investment of time and money in a subpar program. If you haven’t heard of the school before, chances are it has no recognition in the market, and you should be wary of joining the program unless you are in a special situation (i.e. full scholarship recipient etc.). The Cambridge program cost a total of $75,000 USD for the year for example, and only three people (Out of a class of 45) secured a new job upon completion of the program, with some returning to their previous employers and many being jobless. I would recommend that for more experienced people (2-3 years of experience), an MBA from a quality school should be selected any day of the week over a masters in finance degree in terms of making a real legitimate impact on your career in terms of career advancement, or being a career switcher which is what most people aim for in attending one of these programs.
There are some people who will argue with me and say, “MBAs are for generalists! Master of finance degrees are for specialists! You obviously do not know what you are talking about!”. I’ll let you guys in on a secret, you don’t learn anything in an MBA or master of finance program anyways, all you do is go through the motions. The CFA curriculum could arguably destroy any masters in finance curriculum out there barring MIT.
In summary, don’t do a masters in finance unless you are: 1) Going to a top school, 2) Already have an awesome profile and are not trying to switch careers (Why would you even consider doing one in the first place then?), and/or 3) You are on full scholarship. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time and money, and you’ll be dissappointed to realize that you will not learn anything new about finance beyond the CFA curriculum.
Agree with everything you say,but sometimes the value of a masters is simply to be a student again, giving you the opportunity to apply to analyst programmes / internships that would otherwise be closed to you if you graduated say 3 or more years ago. In the UK, undergrads and masters students seem to compete for the same spots. MBA and Phd graduates are truely seperate from undergrads/masters students. In any case, I think most of us would agree that you pay 75000 USD for the brand rather than the knowledge. The fact that you, as an international student, with Visa issues in Cameron’s England, managed to secure a great job, is a function of many factors. A good degree opens doors but you still have to walk through them, you must have done very well in terms of the latter to have beaten the competition, both domestic and international.
Thanks a lot for your message, and yes it’s difficult but not impossible. Believe it or not, I applied to the firm I ended up getting hired in about 7 times before they asked me in for an interview, but that’s the kind persistence you will need to get in the door. It sounds like you are in London as well?
I don’t have a cambridge degree ( i went to warwick-msc finance), I am very bad at the ‘walking through the door part’…so i got no job and am thinking i may join the army
Great comment!
just wondering for my situation in Australia . Do I need cfa designation if I’ve already got my 2years master of Finance degree from the university of Melbourne?
As I’ve mentioned above, I feel like in Australia employers don’t really value master degrees much but experiences.
However, as I’ve already got one of the best master degree in finance in Australia. And 70% of the knowledge and concepts are overlap with cfa whole 3 level materials.
Below are my questions:
1 what makes u to pursue master finance after got the charter? Do u think having both gonna be redundant or not really effective combination for job hunting?
1 Does cfa designation really gonna help me for my future development in Australia if I’ve already got my master of Finance?
2 How do employers value master of finance degree compared with CFA designation in Australia?
3 Some one told me CFA is cheaper version of master finance( which I don’t agree at all). Some one said CFA keep your knowledge up to date and showing your commitment and interest in finance while you working at same time. What do u think?
4 what’s other benefits for getting CFA Designation?
kind Regards
HARVARD!